Puerto Rico Classic: Georgia wins for the fifth time in school history

February 13, 2024 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Georgia Men's Golf Team (Georgia Athletics Photo)

Bryan Lee of Virginia shot a 9-under 63 final round to earn co-medalist honors with Nels Surtani of Purdue

For the fifth time in school history, Georgia won the Puerto Rico Classic at The Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, hosted by Purdue University. Georgia's five wins are the third-most of any program in the tournament's history.

The Bulldogs finished 42-under, defeating Virginia by three shots. Georgia shot team rounds of 275-268-279 en route to the win.

This win marks the Bulldog's first tournament victory since the NCAA Bath Regional in May 2023. In 28 years leading the program, head coach Chris Haack has now led the team to at least one team win in 24 seasons.

Virginia finished in solo second place at 39-under with rounds of 282-275-268. The Cavalier's final round, 20-under 268, tied with Georgia's second round for the lowest team round of the tournament and were the only two rounds to break 270.

Tennessee finished in solo third place at 38-under in its first tournament without 2023 SEC Champion Caleb Surratt, who left Knoxville earlier this month to join LIV Golf and Jon Rahm's team. Surratt and Legion XIII won its first tournament at LIV Mayakoba.

North Florida finished in solo fourth place at 37-under, and Oklahoma finished in fifth place at 32-under. The host school, Purdue, finished in solo seventh place at 29-under.

In the individual competition, Bryan Lee of Virginia shot up the leaderboard behind a flawless final round 9-under 63, recording seven birdies and an eagle to tie 36-hole leader Nels Surtani of Purdue at 15-under.

Lee is coming off a T40 finish at the prestigious Jones Cup, and Surtani is a back-to-back winner of the Northern Amateur. Lee is currently ranked No. 138, and Surtani is ranked No. 179 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com U.S. Rankings.

First-round leader Noah Kent of Iowa, 2023 Walker Cupper Ben James of Virginia, Ben Lorenz of Oklahoma, and Connor Creasy of Georgia all finished T3 at 14-under. Stephen Campbell Jr. finished in solo seventh place at 13-under.

Ben Van Wyk of Georgia, Evan Woosley-Reed of Tennessee, and 2023 Walker Cupper Nick Gabrelcik finished T8 at 12-under.

Results: Puerto Rico Classic

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
T1	Bryan Lee	Fairfax, VA	700	72-66-63=201
T1	Nels Surtani	Noblesville, IN	700	67-65-69=201
T3	Ben Lorenz	Peoria, AZ	400	66-71-65=202
T3	Ben James	Milford, CT	400	69-67-66=202
T3	Connor Creasy	Abingdon, VA	400	70-65-67=202